SFB Newsletter #5

Hey, Ben Slater here.

You may have picked up on this… I’m writing my new book here live in the newsletter. Within circa 60 days I’ll be finished it - Hopefully you’ll eventually grab the book and see what comes of this - because you’re now a live part of the process 🙂 

I’ll also be sharing my funnel building process with you live and give you an insight into the back end numbers, and why I feel as though books are one of the best products on earth.

On that…

This edition of ‘The Systems for Business Newsletter’ is sponsored by my first book ‘The Business Owner’s Guide to Profit’ - I just ran out of physical stock for the book. So while I restock - I’ve decided to create a 48 hour flash sale for the digital version - you can claim it now for just $1. 

You’ll still receive $662 of bonus materials! You also get our journal, workshop and ‘7 figure Scaling Tools’ online course all for just $1 for the next 48 hours.

If you’ve been following along I’ve been talking about the 6 pillars of business - Mindset, Sales, Product, Marketing, Operations and Finance - I’m in the process of sharing my key pricniples, systems, strategies and tactics with you in those areas.

My business philosophy is; Understand the principles, then build systems in those areas - you will secure your financial freedom, and (if you love business) you’ll have a great life full of growth.

In the last edition I shared my ‘Golden Section’ exercise with you - the intention being to help you free up time and energy for you to invest into ‘higher functions of the business.’

If you haven’t yet had time to complete that - I recommend going through that exercise. It can save you hundreds of hours every year and can bring serious momentum - I credit this exercise with taking my business from $50K months to well over $200K months a few years back.

Thanks for all the feedback by the way: Veronica from Sydney sent me an email saying, “I can't thank you enough, the depth of info in the newsletters is so generous and helpful - I've printed the newsletters and all are now coffee and wine stained”

Maybe you could print out the newsletters as they come along. 🤷‍♂️

Why ‘Mindset’ is the Key to Business Growth.

In today’s edition we’ll dive into Mindset: As it relates to business and entrepreneurship.

Maybe you’ve heard the expression, ‘the cave you fear to enter, holds the gold you seek…?’ Well let’s head into the abyss together - A few years back, I pitched a tent and spent some time living there - so I’m pleased to be your guide on this journey.

Maybe you’ve also heard of ‘The Hero’s Journey,’ a story structure used by hollywood movies to create blockbuster scripts..?

Well… what you may not know - this structure has quite the history. (5,000 + years)

Joseph Campbell popularised the concept in his seminal book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ first published in 1949. You see, Campbell was a Mythologist, he’d spent his life studying Myths from every corner of the globe… From Africa to the Americas, from the Inuits to the Aborigines, from Homer’s Oddessey to the Bhagavad Gita - he collected and studied the myths passed down throughout the ages.

He discovered an underlying pattern beneath these stories, driving the narrative - there was a ‘Mono-Myth,’ which he called ‘The Hero’s Journey.’ Hence, ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces.’ (great title by the way.)

Whilst these cultures were separated by thousands of years and hundreds of thousands of km’s - they’re using the same arc - an arc we still use today.

Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Matrix, The Lion King and Finding Nemo - apart from being some of the highest grossing movie, story and book franchises of all time - they follow the Hero’s arc.

Nice infographic on this >

Perhaps most striking among these is ‘The Lord of the Rings’ which was written in stages from 1937 to 1949 - years before Campbell published his works.

Here is a basic insight into the structure…

Historically it starts with a call to adventure (I will share a view on this a bit later as it related to entrepreneurship), the ‘Hero’ then crosses over the threshold from the real world where 'everything is normal,’ into the unknown world - The descent begins into a world of challenges, strange forces and foes. They meet a mentor(s) who helps them along the path.

There is typically a breakdown moment - a ‘death and rebirth’ - at which point the ascent begins. The Hero starts to transform themselves, they build new skills and amass new assets - they forgive themselves and others before crossing back into the known world to share their gifts. They return with the boon.

^ Sound familiar?

So why does the Hero’s Journey have such a prolific track record?

How could cultures speaking countless languages separated by thousands of km’s be telling the same story? How is it possible that the highest grossing movie, book and story franchises of all time, (including the bible) could belong to the same arc?

There is a significant marriage here between the ancient past and our modern experiences - we love these stories. In fact, in terms of human culture you could say ‘The Hero’s Journey was here.’

But why..?

We love these stories because they reflect our nature: we’re on the path.

The path of growth and development, of what can only be called… our consciousness, follows this same hero’s journey.

My first mentor Lachlan Cameron originally introduced me to this topic. Just a few months before meeting him I was having psychotic episodes once every few days. I was deep in the abyss (literally.)

Just over a year later I was living my dream life, in my dream apartment, in the best shape of my life, with a business that was at $83K / month at just 22 years old.

The shift wasn’t lost on me. When I looked back I could clearly see the steps. I saw myself crossing from the known into the unknown world, I could see the call to adventure, the decisions that created my descent, my ultimate suffering and downfall.

I know the abyss well - I could barely go outside for two years - because I could simply fall off the edge at any moment and find myself awake inside my own nightmare. No where to run or hide because anything I thought could find it’s way directly into my environment.

I once accidentally walked through a drug and narcotics check over the Laos, Thailand border with half an ounce of weed in my bag, sniffer dogs on each side, whilst the automatic rifle wielding border patrol checked the bags of the person in front of and behind me. I realised what was in my bag the second I walked into the room. I ran the numbers and realised I was in a coin toss for the firing squad.

I’m not celebrating this moment by the way. This was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. I’m just trying to illustrate on a scale of fear… it was a walk in the park compared to a psychotic episode. The abyss runs deep.

Anyways, I could clearly see the role of my mentor, the ascent and the work I put in to get back into the real world.

This was one of the first insights: No matter the pain I experienced, the devastating aloneness of feeling like nothing was real anymore, (a symptom of psychosis) - I’d been supported the whole time.

In my chaos there was a cosmos. In my disorder there was a hidden order.

Today 10 years on, I’ve been blessed to be able to mentor thousands of people in both life and business… Which for me is always something that makes me feel grateful.

The ‘Life-Giving Elixir’ for me was the set of ‘Universal Laws’ that Lachlan initiated me into. He taught them to me, and I used these principles to find my way out of the abyss, after that I found it easy to keep growing because I simply fell in love with my ability to feel sane.

Today, those same principles are the very backbone of my approach here at ‘Systems for Business.’ Everything flows from that. You could even say they are the spirit of the business.

I’ve observed something unique about the Hero’s Journey that I’ve not heard spoken about - so I want to bring it up and address it here. It’s what I consider to be the origin of entrepreneurship. 

Entrepreneurs seem to experience an intense ‘event with a figure of authority.’ It could be grandfather, father, priest, uncle, brother or any other ‘figure of authority’ in the surroundings. It typically takes place during our childhood years but can also stretch into early teenage years.

In the lives of the students I’ve mentored - It’s there without fail. I’ve read over 100 biographies from entrepreneurs and business owners - I’ve seen it there also. Whether being abandoned, an early death, losing a home, an unsolicited sexual encounter - almost always by a man.

I believe there is a stage of the Hero’s Journey that pre-dates ‘The call to adventure.’ I call it, ‘Issues with the father.’ Some investigation into the movies I mentioned above - you’ll see it there too.

* Note - I just call it ‘issues with the father’ because in most of the cases I’ve observed that’s the way it shows up - but it could be someone else.

Here is what I think is going on psychologically… When young, we simply don’t understand our own power - so we project our consciousness onto the highest figure of authority in the surroundings…

(Similar to how disempowered people continue to do as they grow up)

If that person of authority comes into question in a significant way - you are given the seed of entrepreneurship - It also seems as though the more intense the questioning, the greater the risk and reward profile of the entrepreneurship.

Now just imagine - if you do that from a young age - by the time you reach your early 20’s you’ll start exhibiting entrepreneurial traits, because you have already been practising them for over 10 years.

By the time ‘the call to adventure’ comes around: Whilst most other people are ‘quaking in their boots,’ missing the opportunities of their lives… You’ve already jumped onto the path ready to slay the dragon.

Look, I understand this could be considered ‘deep:’ this is not the sort of material you may expect from a ‘Business Newsletter,’ however that’s part of the problem with ‘business education.’

Let me put it this way…

Confronting yourself and getting to understand your Hero’s Journey more intimately will have exponentially more to do with your long term success, than your primary brand colours, which buttons you click on the internet, which social media platform you use, or even the product you sell.

There is a great saying from Ancient Egypt, ‘spirit without matter is motionless, matter with spirit is expressionless.’ You could think of your story, your experiences and your journey as the spirit of the business. If you shy away from that - Your life and business will become expressionless.

Just as the Hero’s Journey is a formula sitting behind the multi billion dollar stories we love and buy. Your Hero’s Journey is sitting behind your business, that people may love and buy.

If you have the courage to share it, I believe you'd experience something special.

‘The Hero’s Journey’ has typically been presented as a circle, because of these ‘finite games:’ Those thousand faced myths and stories we cloak ourselves in. To me: ‘The Hero’s Journey’ is best thought of as a spiral just like ‘the golden mean spiral’ of a nautilus shell.

It seems to me, as soon as we complete a cycle by sharing our story we invite an even bigger authority figure to step in, fuck around and force us to ask new questions - the journey continues.

Regards,

Ben Slater

This edition of ‘The Systems for Business Newsletter’ is sponsored by my first book ‘The Business Owner’s Guide to Profit’ - I just ran out of physical stock for the book. So while I restock - I’ve decided to create a 48 hour flash sale for the digital version - you can claim it now for just $1. 

You’ll still receive $662 of bonus materials! You also get our journal, workshop and ‘7 figure Scaling Tools’ online course all for just $1 for the next 48 hours.

Ps… There is one other way I can help you. If you want some one on one help to scale up your business this week. Head to the page below and fill in the form… I’ll check it out and if I’m certain I can help you add at least $10-50K/month to your business in the next 90 days, I’ll share our systems with you for free!